Alberto Pasini (1826-1899)

Alberto Pasini (1826-1899)
Al-Khudayri street, Cairo
Oil panel signed and dated 1861 lower right
13.78 x 9.84 inch
Alberto Pasini was one of the most famous Italian painters of the 19th century. He started his apprenticeship at the
Beaux-Arts of Parma, under the supervision of Paolo Toschi. During his three learning years, Alberto Pasini
specialized in landscapes painting and then mainly composed drawings and lithography.
In 1851, the political situation of Italy pushed the young twenty years old Pasini to leave for Paris. There, he met
Eugène Delacroix, Gabriel Decamps and many other painters from the Barbizon school.
During his first participation to the French Salon of Art in 1853, he exhibited a lithography named The evening
that was soon to be noticed by Théodore Chassériau who offered him to join his studio. There, he reinforced his
oil painting technique, and most importantly showed an eager interest for orientalist subjects. Then, in 1855,
Chassériau proposed him to replace him in a journey in Persia along with French diplomat Prosper Bourée. The
painter stayed there for two years and received numerous orders from the Shah.
Pasini was captivated and mesmerized by the warm lights, the colours full of shades and the clothing. He thus
decided to continue his discovering of the East. He travelled to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Constantinople. His
several journeys awaken a true passion for the East that will become in the course of time the core of his pictorial
work. Pasini unrelentingly depicted picturesque scenes with a photographic accuracy. His works were very popular
among the audience and his talent was praised by the critics. Some even compared him with the prominent
orientalist artist Eugène Fromentin.
Appointed by the French ambassador Prosper Bourée, Alberto Pasini went once again to Constantinople in 1867
and stayed there for nine months. Then, in 1869, the Sultan Abdul Aziz of Turkey commissioned four paintings,
Galerie Ary Jan
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offering him the opportunity to remain in the country for a while.
Whilst being a traveller painter, he set up his studio in Paris. His participation in the French Salon of Art was
successful and he received there a gold medal in 1878. Napoleon III honoured him with the Legion of Honour
while king of Italy awarded him with the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus in 1879.
In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian war, plenty of Italians that were perceived as Prussia's allies seemed to be
no more welcomed in France. Alberto Pasino made no exception and in 1879 he purchased a small farm near
Turin which soon became his refuge between his journeys in the East or in Spain. He still brought with him a
horde of memories which allowed him to continue and create sublime works in his Cavretto studio.
This painting features the architectural style of the painter, for one can recognize a street of Cairo. The artist
indeed drew his inspiration from the Ibn Tulun mosque, the most ancient one of Cairo. The building is also the
most ancient Islamic monument of the country. Alberto Pasini depicts the spiral minaret which reminds the great
mosque of Samara. Behind the mosque is the Saladin fortress, completed in 1857.
This fortress is one of the greatest monuments of the 19th century belonging to the Mameluk period style. The
scene thus takes place in the Al-Khudayri Street, Cairo, in a slightly high area from the Sayda Zaineb district. In the
foreground, one can see characters in a bustling little street, all dressed with traditional clothing. Horses and
stallholders meddle in the scene. We can easily imagine a lively and noisy atmosphere, typical of Egypt at that time.
Museums
Palais de Dolmabahce d'Istanbul,
Galleria de Arte Moderna de Turin,
Metropolitan Museum de New York,
Galerie Nationale de Parme,
Pinacothèque Stuard de Parme,
Pennsylvania Academy of Arts
Bibliography
Catalogue officiel de l'Exposition Universelle de 1878 à Paris, Tome I, Groupe I, 1878
Roberto Lasagni, Dizionario biografico dei parmigiani, volume III, 1999
J. Copeau, L'Orient par Albert Pasini, Grands magasins du Bon marché, Paris,
Alberto Pasini, Turin, 1916 (préface de J-L Gérôme) ; V. Botteri Cardoso, Pasini, Genova, Sagep, 1991
Galerie Ary Jan
38 rue de Penthièvre | 75008 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 42 61 42 10 | Mobile : +33 (0)6 07 88 75 84
[email protected] | www.galeriearyjan.com